Shelter
I’ve finished my AI Sequel novel and it’s going through editing but now I’m excited to start a new project — a compilation novel. This is the first chapter. From wikipedia: A compilation novel, often referred to as a short story cycle or composite novel, is a collection of short stories that are arranged to create a cohesive experience, where the stories can stand alone but also interrelate to form a larger narrative. This format allows for various themes or characters to connect across the stories, enhancing the overall reading experience. The order to shelter in place had been given five days ago. The new governor said that there were no essential workers; everyone had to stay inside. She said it was a perfect storm (the fourth this year) that seemed like God himself was telling everyone to stay inside and safe. True enough, this one was worse than the last three. This one was deadlier. My daughter, Beatriz, had called twice already today. She was worried about food. Despite all my advice and attempts to teach her, she never learned how to manage food or how to cook. She said it was old-fashioned and today everyone ate out or did Instacart or DoorDash — some such nonsense. She had just turned 23 and didn’t have a job but had her own apartment. Her father and I divorced five years ago. She was Daddy’s girl, and he supported her. Last year, when she graduated college, he helped her with an apartment and did all he could to help her find a job, too, but still nothing. I’d told her that a degree in psychology wouldn’t be enough, but he’d encouraged her. As a tech writer, I’d known it was all heading toward robotics and AI skills, but even I had to admit
